


Pretty Pretty

by immahill



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, Tori has a younger cousin, but honestly Jade's brother shows up for two seconds, just fluff, literally zero conflict, moments of bade brotp, moments of tandre brotp, this stemmed from a one shot i wrote
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:26:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27492649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immahill/pseuds/immahill
Summary: “But do you think Jade isprettypretty?” she insists.Realizing her uncle's kid won’t give up until she gives in, Tori sighs and relents. “Yeah.” Her gaze drifts over to her friends on the couches, lingering on pale skin and streaks of colored hair, by which she is entirely captivated and unbelievably enamored, before looking back to Carla. “I think Jade’s pretty pretty.”-or-Tori's younger cousin knows Tori likes Jade and decides to do something about it.
Relationships: Tori Vega/Jade West
Comments: 79
Kudos: 429





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well hello! welcome to my first multi-chapter fic that is actually a connected story and not a one shot. this is the first time i'm trying my hand at this, so i hope it goes alright.

“Hey, Vega?”

“Hm?” Tori hums and turns her head in Jade’s direction, though she keeps her eyes on the paper in front of her.

“Vega.”

“Yeah, Jade?” She still doesn’t turn toward her bed, where she knows Jade resides. Her gaze follows her pencil, which trails under the lines of text in her history textbook, searching for the damn answer to the question she’s been stuck on for the past ten minutes (question number-fucking-nine). She huffs when she reaches the end of the page and still hasn’t found the reasons why some Americans were for or against annexing the Philippines after the Spanish-American War back in 18-whatever. It’s almost certainly supposed to be in this section, where the hell is it? God, she should just look the answer up, moral implications be damned. She can probably find it on a _Quizlet_ anyway.

Eventually, the silence in place of what she expected to be Jade’s voice gets to her. She can practically feel Jade’s expectant stare boring into back of her head, waiting for her to turn around and give her full attention. Tori’s a little tempted to make Jade wait a little longer just for the sake of it, but her homework is just _so_ boring and she’s making zero progress. Brown eyes finally drag away from the papers in front of her and her desk chair swivels around and, yup, Jade is staring. The expectant look turns into a glare of disapproval. Probably for making her wait so long, Tori thinks. Even though it was only, like, two minutes, Jade is not usually a patient girl. 

Tori waits for Jade to start talking, but all that happens is Jade continues to glare at her from where she lays on her stomach atop Tori’s purple bed sheets, leather jacket thrown to the foot of the bed. 

Tori sighs. She knows what Jade is waiting for. “Alright, alright. You’ve got my full attention now,” she assures.

“Thank you,” Jade grins cheekily, making it known that she’s fully aware of how much of a little shit she’s being.

“Do you actually have anything to say?” Tori asks after another beat of silence.  
  
“Well _yeah_.” Jade pushes herself up to her elbows and Tori’s thoughts are a constant stream of _don’t look down don’t look down don’t look down_. She studies the footboard of her bed instead. “The guys and Cat want to know if we’re still on for Saturday.”

Tori reaches for her phone on the desktop, assuming there will be texts from their group chat awaiting her. There are none. “She didn’t text me,” she says quizzically.

“Yeah, Cat just texted me directly. I guess she’s hanging out with the guys or something, I don’t know.” Jade turns her phone for Tori to see, but she can’t make out the words from this distance, even with her glasses on.

“How’d she even know you were over here?”

“In case you missed it, I _do_ tend to come over here after school quite frequently,” Jade speaks slowly, as if talking to a child. “What, were we supposed to be hiding it, Vega? Am I your dirty little secret? Is this an _illicit affair_?” She grins wickedly, the last question being accompanied by a dramatic flourish of rolling over onto her back, the back of her hand going to her forehead.

“ _No_ ,” Tori answers pointedly. “This is not an ‘illicit affair.’” Hell, if she were to do anything _affair_ -like with Jade, it wouldn’t be affair-like at all because one, they’re both single. Two, “affair” usually implies sexual actions and that, just, well. She’s not going to go there yet. “Affair” inherently means bad and unlawful, and Tori Vega would not go about pursuing Jade West the wrong way. No siree. And three, Tori knows herself well enough to know she’d absolutely fail at keeping it a secret. She’d literally be vibrating from happiness and she’d shout it from the rooftops to the whole damn world, not keep it to herself.

Jade ignores her and continues on. “And everyone knows you won’t answer your phone because you’re _a good gal who likes to do homework the honest way_ and actually focuses instead of googling the answers and texting in between like everyone else.”

“I don’t talk like that!”

“What- _ever_.”

Tori huffs. “Anyway, it turns out my uncle and aunt are coming down on Friday and staying the weekend. They’re going out with my parents Saturday, so I’ve been deemed babysitter for my little cousin ‘cause Trina dipped out _real_ quick. The house isn’t gonna be free, so you guys can do something without me.” 

Tori watches Jade frown slightly, but the paler girl otherwise doesn’t say a word, thumbs tapping her phone screen. Tori pushes against the ground with her toes, effectively turning her chair back towards her desk. Maybe she can just skip question nine for now. The start of the Philippine Insurrection seems much more interesting anyway.

“They’re all fine with coming over and hanging out with your cousin.”  
  
Tori pauses halfway turned. “What?”

“I just mean, if that’s cool with you and your cousin’s parents and everything. The idiots said they’d still like to come over instead of going out somewhere else.” Jade shakes her phone for emphasis.

“Oh,” Tori states. She wasn’t really expecting Jade to try to accommodate her and her younger cousin. “In that case, yeah! I’m fine with it. I’ll ask my dad later, but Carla’s parents probably will be too.” Her cousin Carla is an extroverted little thing, anyway. She’d love to get the chance to spread her social butterfly wings and soar.

Jade shoots a grin at Tori, who tries not to swoon at the sight. “Cool.”

* * *

Jade drops into her bed with a grunt. Thankfully, all her homework is done since Tori is the kind of person to invite a friend over to work on homework, and then _actually_ work on homework.

Which, yeah. They’re friends now, or whatever. Don’t make a big deal out of it.

Jade isn’t sure if it’s just her, though, but going over to Tori’s to finish homework seems to be a whole lot more fun than doing it on her own. Even if they’re just sitting in silence, working on worksheets or typing up essays, time seems to go by faster.

Of course, there’s the added benefit of actually having another person there to run lines with, to bounce ideas off of, or to just listen when Jade needs to verbally work out a problem she’s having when the dialogue of a scene (because her scriptwriting teacher fucking _loves_ to assign vague prompts, intending for her students to write short scenes from them; sometimes it works for Jade, sometimes it doesn’t) she’s writing isn’t flowing right. Even reviewing vocabulary is more bearable when she’s doing it with Tori.

_Bzzz bzzz, bzzz bzzz._

Speak of the devil. Jade swipes on the text from Tori to the main group chat.

**The Nerdy Vega: my uncle and aunt said it’s cool for my cousin to hang out with us on saturday! :{)**

**Cat🤪: Woo hoo!! 😄**

**André🎹🎸: tight**

**Robbie👓: Coolio, Torio**

**Beck the Hair Man: how old is the little person, if i may ask**

**The Nerdy Vega: she’s 5 and reeaaaallly energetic**

Jade snorts at that. As if Tori isn’t the exact same way. She types on her phone to tell her so.

**must run in the family then**

**The Nerdy Vega: yeah and?**

Jade can’t decide if she’s more proud of Tori for having a little sass in her, or more miffed that it’s directed her way. Before Jade can grasp a suitable retort, Beck is intervening in true Beck Oliver fashion.

**Beck the Hair Man: now now girls**

**can it, oliver**

The conversation diverts itself to a discussion about pirates and mermaids (courtesy of Cat), so Jade turns off her phone and takes a moment to gather herself before her mom calls her upstairs for dinner. She’s not particularly tired, but the energy she has when she’s with Tori is different than the one she brings home. She needs to make sure she doesn’t crack a joke at the dining table that would get a boisterous laugh or a lovely blush out of Tori, but would probably earn her a confused stare or life lesson lecture from her mom.

As expected, a light knocking from the top of the stairs makes its way down. “Jade, time for dinner,” her mother's voice calmly beckons. Good thing it wasn't her brother that called for her this time. The boy had a tendency to yell _completely_ unnecessarily.

Jade sighs and drags herself up out of bed. Her phone lights up with another incoming text, this time from Tori directly to her.

Jade laughs at the meme. Honestly, that dog seems like a pretty good representation of Tori if you ask her. As she climbs up the stairs, she sends a meme back.

“What’s got you all smiley?”

Jade immediately forces her grin down and glares at her brother, taking the seat across from him. Oh, the things she could do to wipe that insolent smirk off his face if her mother wasn’t right there. “I was texting someone,” she offers, purposefully vague.

“Oooooh,” he crows. “Does Jadey have a cru–”

“Listen here, _Jackie_ –”

“It’s _Jackson_ , you–”

“Okay! Are you both ready for dinner?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did i include them saying “illicit affairs” because of the song by that name and because of the jori fics and edits made to that song? maybe.
> 
> also i spent a while trying to decide if jade used emojis in her contact names. as you can see, i decided she did.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is where the one shot i previously wrote comes into play. i revised it a little and added on to it, so if you read the original one shot, it'd still be best not skip this chapter because things ✨happen✨

By the time that Saturday comes, Carla is more than happy to meet Tori’s friends. The younger girl had grilled Tori for all that she was worth that morning, trying to memorize everyone’s names and pulling funny stories out of her older cousin. Now that everyone has been introduced to Carla and they’ve been hanging around the house for half an hour, Tori’s fairly confident that the little girl fits in quite well.

“Tori?”

“Yeah, Carla?” Tori hums, glancing down at the little relative gripping her hand as they descend the stairs after stowing Carla’s jacket away in Tori’s room.

“That one’s Jade, right?”

Both sets of brown eyes follow the five year old’s finger, directed towards a head of black hair sitting on the couch closer to the dining table. “You bet it is, Cookie.” Carla smiles at the nickname.

When they reach the bottom, Tori sees Jade shift, one arm resting bent on the red backrest, head and body turned sideways to more comfortably talk to Cat. Carla slows to a stop near the piano. “I wanna look like her,” the young girl says confidently, nodding resolutely to herself. “She’s pretty.”

 _Oh to have the unbridled confidence of a blissfully innocent five year old_ , Tori thinks. Her eyes drag – not for the first time, considering how much she and Jade actually _hang out_ now, and how often they were around each other even before that – over Jade’s side profile, admiring the pleasing slope of her nose, the line of her jaw, the curve of her cheekbones. “I think so too.” The murmur slips past her lips before she can catch it in her throat. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Her lips press together as she fights the blush and tries to rid herself of embarrassment, because really, what’s she embarrassed about? It’s only Carla with her, and admitting to a friend’s beauty is perfectly platonic. It’s not like anyone who cares heard her anyway. Hopefully.

“ _Really_ really?” Carla questions.

“Well,” the teen girl starts. She already feels overly exposed, and the only person she’s talking to is her dad's brother's fresh-out-of-preschool daughter who can’t possibly know what Tori feels for Jade. God, she’ll never be able to handle admitting her feelings to anyone at this rate if she’s already skittish talking about _prettiness_ with a literal child. “Well yeah. All my friends are pretty.” The statement is meant mainly to deflect, but it's also just true. Her friends are amazing inside and out, and for their camaraderie she is grateful.

Carla manages to clamber onto the piano bench and stands on it, putting herself closer to eye level with her older cousin. She’s still several inches shy of meeting Tori’s height, but she’s significantly taller than when she was on the floor. “But do you think Jade is _pretty_ pretty?” she insists.

Realizing her uncle's kid won’t give up until she gives in, Tori sighs and relents. “Yeah.” Her gaze drifts over to her friends on the couches, lingering on pale skin and streaks of colored hair, by which she is entirely captivated and unbelievably enamored, before looking back to Carla. “I think Jade’s pretty pretty.”

The child grins, seeming satisfied, and plops down into a sitting position on the piano bench. Her legs hang, not yet tall enough to reach the ground unless she was right on the edge of the seat. Tugging on Tori’s hand, she says, “C’mon, sit. I want you to play the song you showed me last time.”

* * *

Jade’s eyes flick over to the piano when she hears warm chords resonate through it’s wooden body. The conversation around her falters for a moment, her friends also caught slightly off guard at the unexpected sound. It’s only a few short seconds later that activity picks up again, though – they do all go to a performing arts school, after all. People around them are breaking into song and dance and monologues constantly.

To Jade’s right, Cats is practically a bridge from this arm of the couch to the other with how far she’s leaning, her attention captured by Robbie, so Jade tunes out of the conversation and lets herself bask in the music for a while, trying to place the song. When she hears a soft falsetto – Tori’s, she recognizes – the pieces start to slowly come together in her mind. By the time the voice – stronger now, in chest voice, but still quieter than usual – reaches the chorus, the familiarity of it snaps into place. It’s the song André and Tori sang at that _amazing_ restaurant as a form of payment when Robbie ordered a whole damn _bowl_ of caviar that no one had the money to cover.

( _Tori wore your dress that night_ , her mind reminds her, resurfacing an old memory.

 _Shut up_ , she tells her mind.)

When a squeakier, less experienced voice joins the mix, Jade’s reminded that, oh yeah, Tori’s little cousin is still here with them.

After a sweeping glance around the room, she’s confident that no one is watching her, and allows her gaze to land on the two Vegas currently present. (Or, she thinks Carla is a Vega. Jade's pretty sure she heard Tori referring to her as her uncle's child, and Tori's mom doesn't have a brother, so one can assume that Carla is a Vega if David's brother didn't change his last name.) Jade isn’t one for kids (though her brother is alright most of the time), but the simple, innocent, honest-to-god _wholesome_ energy that radiates effortlessly from the scene, Tori playing piano and singing with her younger cousin, arm around the small girl in order to reach the necessary piano keys, is undeniable. With all of her kindness and patience and comforting nature, Jade bets Tori’s great with kids. While Tori doesn’t have any younger siblings of her own, Jade thinks her bet would be well placed if this interaction – and this whole day, really – is anything to go by.

“Pretty cute, huh?”

Jade feels the couch dip down on her left and immediately whips around to face Beck. “What?” she asks. Just because she was caught staring doesn’t mean she can’t act clueless.

“ _Carla_ ,” he drawls, smirking knowingly.

Jade knows he actually _is_ talking about Carla, if only partially. She also knows he almost definitely is not referencing _solely_ her, and is trying to steer Jade’s thoughts a certain way, to think a certain something about a certain someone. She glares at him for it.

He seems to relent fairly quickly because he doesn’t press for more on the direct concept of Tori and is already moving on. “Cute little girl.”  
  
“Sure, whatever.”

To his credit, Beck isn’t very easily deterred. “I can see the family resemblance.”

“I guess,” is all she offers him, but she mentally agrees. Carla’s hair is darker than Tori’s, but they have the same damned cheekbones and innocent quality to their brown doe eyes. The eyes that affect Jade in all sorts of ways, even though Tori rarely seems aware of what she’s doing.

Jade hears Tori and Carla’s voices align with the slowing of what Jade knows are Tori’s fingers pressing the piano keys, right before the big key change comes. A small smile spreads on her lips when she hears the pitch of the voices and of the piano keys raise while the intensity of the song amps up, Tori and Carla’s voices increasing in dynamic level just a little in order to reach the higher notes of the last chorus. The smile grows when Tori drops out at the end, letting Carla sing the very last _“Tell me that you love me anyway”_ alone.

Robbie’s low whistle and Cat’s clapping fill the room when the song ends. Beck gives Jade one last long, mischievous look, like he knows something Jade doesn't want him to, before joining in on the applause.

“Sounding good, Carla,” André compliments after twisting around to properly smile at the girls at the piano.

“You’re keeping up with Tori pretty well,” Robbie informs the young child.

Tori squeezes Carla in a side hug. “She’ll be way better than me at this rate.”

Jade smirks. “Yeah, we’ll have a Mini Tori, except better. Tori Vega 2.0, new and improved!” She flings her hand dramatically through the air, the flourish only a little (a lot) sarcastic and teasing.

A year ago, Jade would’ve said those words seriously and with malice, and Tori would’ve clenched her jaw in offense and maybe even shot an insult back. This time, Tori rolls her eyes and mutters something Jade can’t catch. What Jade _can_ catch, though, is the pretty smile dancing on Tori’s lips.

Jade isn’t entirely sure how they got here, but she’s glad she can joke around with Tori like this. It’s nice. Comfortable.

The pitter patter of fast footfalls draws Jade’s attention, and she finds the source to be Carla excitedly running towards the couches. The small girl swings around the arm of the couch and comes to a stop in front of André.

“You wrote that ‘Okay’ song, right?”

“Sure did,” André says before looking over at Jade. “With the help of Jade.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Jade catches Tori chuckle quietly. André seems to have heard it too, because he turns and shoots Tori a look that Jade can’t quite decipher the meaning of. The whole interaction is slightly confusing, but it’s barely anything compared to the usual level of weirdness her friends tend to reach. It's probably an inside joke or something. Jade lets it go.

“Can you come play it?” Carla asks. “Pretty please?”

Jade mentally curses because the girl’s puppy eyes, so reminiscent of Tori’s, aren’t even directed at her, yet she’s already swayed. André seems unable to resist too, since he’s already out of his seat and walking to the piano by the time Carla’s speaking again.

“And can you come sing it?” This time the pleading look is directed right at her. “Every time I ask Tori, she always says you sing it better.”

Ugh. Damn Vegas. They must have some sort of magic in their big, brown, doe eyes. It’s always damn near impossible to– wait. Tori says what now?

“She does, does she?” Jade drawls, leisurely fixing her gaze on Tori, eyebrow raised. Well this is intriguing.

“Well, uh–”

Jade smirks. She can see Tori’s blush from all the way over here.

“You do,” the tan teen shrugs. “Your voice really fits the song.”

“So will you please come sing?” Carla blinks innocently up at her.

Try as she might, Jade is helpless to say anything but yes to the child. She heaves herself up from the couch and sighs, as if this is some great burden. It isn’t, but just because Carla is a cute little girl doesn’t mean Jade has to show she thinks so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sometimes i think i utilize italics and parentheses too much, but hey, i'm just being _expressive_


	3. Chapter 3

Tori is captivated by Jade and her voice. She always has been, from karaoke nights to videos uploaded on The Slap, school musicals to Full Moon Jams and other performances. Something about it just pulls her in, evoking emotion and adoration. Her voice itself is beautiful, sultry and alluring at the bottom of her range, bright and powerful at the top. The performance that comes along with it, whether it be an energetic stage presence or a calmer on camera vibe, leaves Tori with no attention to spare on anything else. Listening and watching Jade is an experience one must be fully attuned to.

These thoughts and feelings swirl around her head as she leans against the straight side of the piano, Carla sitting on it’s cover, Jade and André side by side on the bench. She doesn’t know what prompted Jade to write these lyrics (because André insists it was her that actually ended up doing a large portion of the songwriting when he had a difficult time with writer’s block, creative juice depleted after pumping out a full three minute song in a single day – chords, melody, structure, and all), but she lets herself listen and enjoy them, enveloped in warm sound.

So far, ocean eyes have been kept on the keys or simply closed, lost in the music. When the first chorus transitions into the second verse, though, Jade looks up and a jolt shocks Tori when her blue eyes meet brown ones. Jade smiles – a small, soft thing as she sings – but it’s honest and genuine and oh so pretty. Tori smiles back, because what else is she meant to do?

By the time Jade and André have reached the bridge of the song, Jade’s smooth voice dipping soothingly, she decides. Fuck it. Carla’s right. Tori will shout it from the rooftops if necessary. Jade _is_ pretty pretty.

* * *

When Jade finishes singing, the last chord fading out and a new round of applause rising, she finds coffee colored eyes again. There’s some sort of look in them that Jade can’t put a specific name to, but it makes her feel warm, like waking up early on a rare chilly day and letting the heat of her favorite caffeinated beverage seep into her bones.

Tori’s eyes tear away from hers when Carla says something Jade can’t make out. She beams and nods along decisively to whatever her little cousin said, and the warm feeling in Jade grows. It’s not entirely unfamiliar by now – mildly confusing and a little terrifying, yes, but not wholly new. It’s certainly not all bad, considering how good it makes her feel.

* * *

Tori forces herself from Jade's gaze when Carla quietly comments, “Now _that_ deserves a _pretty_ pretty rating, don’t you think?”

Tori can feel the grin pulling at her cheeks as she nods, her giddiness unconcealable, high on only Jade: the drug with no apparent side effects harmful enough for Tori to care – besides, of course, an incurable addiction. “Oh, most definitely.”

Carla whoops along with the rest of the applauding gang before hopping down from the piano cover. Ever the social butterfly, she leans on the back of the bench, effectively inserting herself between André and Jade. “That was awesome!”

“Thanks, little one,” André laughs.

“Careful now,” Jade chides. “You might anger Cat with how close that nickname is to ‘Little Red.’”

“Nah, little one and Little Red are totally different.” He rests a hand on Carla’s head, which makes her grin.

“I don’t know, they both do have this air of wonder to them,” Tori says before continuing on in an exaggerated ignorant voice. “And for _some reason_ – now just hear me out here – Carla also has this child-like quality to her.”

Her cousin giggles. “That’s silly, Tori. I _am_ a child!”

“Sometimes I think you’re too smart to be one.” She is, really. She keeps bringing up Jade and Tori’s convinced it’s not just a coincidence, but an active choice. Carla’s an observant little shit.

Tori walks over and picks the girl up, grunting with effort. “You’re getting big, you know that?”

At that moment, Cat comes bounding over, Beck and Robbie in tow.

While her friends converse, Tori murmurs “Want to help me get snacks?” to Carla, to which she responds with an enthusiastic nod. Sometimes, Tori wonders how Carla can keep up the cheerful energy all day long, but her mom always reminds her she – and even Trina, to an extent – was the exact same way as a child. Her dad says she still is.

* * *

Jade watches Tori, carrying Carla, step away from the piano. The rest of the gang is talking about something she isn’t particularly interested in, so she stands, striding to catch up to the Vega girls.

“Mind if I join? The idiots,” she jabs a thumb behind her, “are talking about some bird movie. Takes place in Brazil or something.”

“ _Rio_!” Carla exclaims. “I love that movie.”

“Of course you do,” Jade shakes her head deprecatingly, but her smile is amused.

“You guys are like Blu and Jewel.”

Jade’s only just beginning to wonder who the fuck Blu and Jewel are when Tori makes a weird, strangled noise of surprise, indicating that she probably understands what Carla is referencing.

“You’re definitely Blu.” Carla – who’s looking a little more like Trina at the moment, with the witheringly sassy stare she’s serving Tori – directs her words at her cousin. Tori makes another indignant sound.

Jade has no idea what the fuck any of that meant, but she forges on. “Are those the characters in…,” she takes a moment to remember the movie title Carla had spewed off, “ _Rio_?”

“Yup! They’re two blue macaws and they–”  
  
“Are friends!” Tori interjects as she sets Carla down on the kitchen island. “Or, like, acquaintances. Kind of. They’re chained together. By a chain. A metal chain.”

Even though she has no idea what sparked the behavior, watching Tori flush and flounder is amusing. Sadly, Tori turns away to reach up to the cupboards by the fridge. Not-so-sadly, her shirt raises a little and reveals tan midriff. Jade lets her eyes linger only a little because this is her _friend_ here, and there is a child present, after all.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

Jade glances down at the small ball of child on the island counter in front her. “Sure, kid.”

The impish little grin that forms on Carla’s face is honestly impressive. Jade would’ve filed this away, a memory to call upon when she inevitably needs to gibe at Tori – something about how _‘maybe Carla won’t end up as a goody two shoes with a stick up her ass like her older cousin,’_ probably – had she not seen a scarily similar expression on Tori a few too many times for her to really be her daddy’s pure little cop daughter.

(Anything less than the Tori she knows now seems boring. Jade’s grateful for Tori’s moments of mischief. The little proud smirk she wears sends a small thrill through Jade every time.)

“Don’t tell Tori I told you, okay?”

Jade moves to lean her hip on the counter next to Carla, making herself a barrier in between the Vega cousins. “Got it.”

“Pinky promise?” She holds her tiny pinky finger out in offering.

Jade glances at her friends. Cat and André are at the piano, Beck and Robbie have sat themselves on the stairs. None of them are looking this way. She sighs. This is a dumb, childish act, but perhaps she can indulge just this once. Curiosity wins out over reluctance and a pale finger interlocks with a smaller, tanner one. “Promise.”

She leans in when Carla motions her closer. “I think Tori likes you,” she whispers.

Jade does her best to keep her face neutral, fighting the urge for her eyebrows to shoot up. She manages to look what she thinks is mildly interested instead of absolutely stunned.

“She said you were _pretty_ pretty.” Carla pulls back after that, grinning in satisfaction. Jade takes a moment to study her, trying to find any signs of this being a prank, a silly kid pulling her leg. She doesn’t, there’s just a smug grin that could honestly rival her own. If she wasn’t busy reeling from being totally blindsided, Jade might acknowledge that she might just like this little shit. An abundance of devious potential lies in Carla.

“If you guys are gonna take up kitchen space, you have to do something besides sit there.” Both of them turn sharply towards Tori, who looks at them pointedly. “You have to help. Jade, can you grab chips? They should be in the cabinet right below Carla.”

Jade stares at Tori for a moment. Could it be possible Tori actually does like her? She doesn’t want to put too much faith into the words of a literal five year old, but…oh. She should probably respond now. “Fine. But only because I want to.”

“Sure, Jade.”

In retaliation for the sarcastic tone, Jade looks up from where she’s knelt to shoot a glare at Tori, half assed as it is. Tori just grins back. She always does that, Jade muses; responds to her in a way most people wouldn’t even consider, pushes back in unexpected ways. Even if this a more simple, tame instance, it’s as good an example as any.

Once Carla moves her legs out of the way, Jade opens the cabinet door and reaches in for a bag of chips. There are a few different options, so she opens her mouth to ask Tori which she should grab, but Tori’s already speaking. “Just take whatever flavor you want. Except the ones labelled for Trina. She’ll kill me if we touch any of those.”

There’s temptation for Jade to grab one of Trina’s just to inconvenience the older Vega sister, but since Tori is the one who would end up being given a hard time, she decides against it. Nodding, Jade grabs one at random, checking for a Trina label and seeing none. When she stands up, Tori is standing across the island, glass cups now lined up between them. A store-sized bottle of pink lemonade seems to appear from below the counter out of nowhere, but Jade quickly figures it out when the top of Carla’s head pops up near Tori’s waist.

“Thanks, Cookie.”

Oh _of course_ Tori has a stupid, cliche, _endearing_ nickname for her little cousin. Of fucking course. Just when Jade thought she couldn’t find Tori any cuter. This is so unfair.

The light hum of a sweet melody fills the air. Jade doesn’t mind it, but Tori must recognize the song because she’s quickly pushing Carla’s head away and mumbling some reprimand about love songs and “I know what you’re doing, missy.”

Jade doesn’t even realize she’s staring until Tori glances up and smiles shyly. “What?”

“Nothing,” Jade says, and even she knows she responded too quickly, but there’s nothing she can do about it now. She goes for the bag of chips, busying herself with opening it. When she deems it safe, she steals another glance at her fellow Hollywood Arts student. Idly, she thinks the pink blush on Tori’s cheeks is pretty.

 _Pretty_ pretty, Carla had said. Tori said she was pretty pretty.

Well, Jade thinks Tori is pretty pretty, too.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just keep adding chapters to this, don’t i? 
> 
> speaking of chapters, i've been maintaining a head start throughout writing this work, always having at least a rough draft of the next one or two chapters ahead of the one i'm uploading. at the moment, i have the rest of this work pretty much done, so you can count on the last few chapters being uploaded about a week after the previous like that have so far. 
> 
> i hope you enjoy this chapter! i know it's going on longer than i thought, so thank you if you're still sticking around :).

Jade sits herself at the usual lunch table, her salad being pushed around her plate instead of eaten. As she tunes out the sounds of whatever game Cat is playing on her phone, her mind drifts to last Saturday. Today is Tuesday, and Jade still can’t get Carla’s theory out of her head, even three days later. The idea has been knocking and wrestling around in her head almost constantly, wearing on the walls of her mind. It’s a little annoying, really. She hasn’t been this hung up on anything before. But it’s not like she can just _go for it._ That would be stupid, going after Tori just because her five year old cousin said a phrase that’s passed around twenty times a day on the playground far too frivolously to hold a shred of the meaning it holds to Jade.

Fingers snapping in front of her face is what breaks her out of her mental bubble. “Well hello.”

Jade scowls at Beck’s grin as he takes the seat next to her. “What.”

“Seemed like you were pretty far in your head for a while there,” he notes, taking Jade’s flippant behavior in stride. 

“I’m fine,” Jade answers the silent question hanging in between them.

“Right.” 

She narrows her eyes at him.

“Look, I’m not going to push.” Beck raises one hand in surrender, using the other to bring his burrito to his mouth.

Jade considers leaving it at that, but she’s been dealing with this on her own for three days and has gotten nowhere. Maybe it is time to confide in someone. A cursory glance is made towards Cat to ensure that her attention is wrapped in her phone, before Jade turns to her actor friend. “Carla said something on Saturday that…got me thinking.”

Beck nods, encouraging her to go on.

“If…if I were to, you know, _hypothetically_ make a move on a completely _hypothetical_ person, whose initials may or may not be the same as that of television, do you think it would be…received well?”

Beck rubs at his forehead, most likely trying to decipher that mess of a question, attempting to pick away the deception and deflection Jade used to cloud her true meaning. A moment later, he chuckles. “Oh. TV, as in television and Tori Vega. Never realized that before.”

“Beck,” Jade groans exasperatedly.

“Okay, okay,” he relents. “I can’t speak for this _hypothetical_ person, but I think that yes, she would _hypothetically_ receive your _hypothetical_ move well.”

Just this once, Jade lets go of Beck’s teasing in favor of being thankful for his advice. She wraps an arm around his shoulders and briefly squeezes as a show of gratitude. “You tell no one about this.”

“Of course not,” he smiles, but a quick moment later his eyebrows are furrowing in thought. “Technically, would the right world be _hypothetical_ or _theoretical_?”

Before Jade can begin to ponder that question, she’s distracted by a voice behind her.

“Tori.”

Jade glances over her shoulder to see André and Tori heading toward them, Tori frowning at the songwriter’s stern tone.  
  
“André,” the singer repeats, using the same intonation.

“Tori!”

“André!”

“ _To-ri._ ”

“ _An-dré_.”

“Oh-ho, what’s this? Lovers’ quarrel?” Robbie sidles up next to them, taking the spot next to Cat when Tori and André take a bench to themselves.

“Yeah no,” Tori denies at the same time as André goes, “Nah, dude.”

“Not that André isn’t a good guy–”

“And Tori’s a cool girl–”

“But….” The two best friends look at each other. “No,” they state simultaneously.

“André’s not really my type.”  
  
The aspiring producer smiles conspiratorially. “Now I can tell you who _is_ Tori’s type. Possibly someone sitting ri– ow! Dang, girl.” He rubs his arm where Tori elbowed it.

“What were you guys arguing about, though?” Beck mumbles in between bites.

“André here,” Tori slings an arm around his shoulders, “was being very annoying and stubborn, asking for information I do not yet want to give him.”

“Can you blame me?” André inquires, turning his head and shooting an emphatic look at his half Latina friend.  
  
“Yes, I absolutely can.”

“So…we _don’t_ get to know what you were arguing about,” Beck prompts for clarification.

“Yeah, so–”

“André! Please don’t.”

Jade rolls her eyes good naturedly as her friends continue to discuss and banter. Without much thought, her hand reaches towards Tori’s tray of food, stealing a few fries for herself instead of picking at the leafy greens right in front of her. Junk food just looks a whole lot more appetizing to her today.

It’s only when she happens to catch Tori’s slightly raised eyebrows that Jade considers what she’s done. Determined to gain some sort of upper hand in this interaction, and fueled by Beck’s assurances that she just might have a chance with Tori, Jade slyly grins and winks before popping another fry into her mouth. Amusement adorns her features when surprise colors Tori’s, the tan girl flushing slightly. Jade may be generally calmer now than she used to be, but _man_ , messing with Tori is _fun_. It will never get old, she's sure of it.

Amidst her private relishing, Jade misses the signs of resolve taking over Tori’s face. Blue eyes glance back at the singer, quickly losing their smugness when Jade spots the rare mischievous smirk that never fails to make her weak in the knees. Tori’s arm shoots out to Jade’s tray and is already retreating by the time the writer even begins to swat her hand away. “Hey!”

“What?” Tori grins widely, tossing the crouton she picked from Jade’s salad in the air. “Didn’t look like you were eating it, considering you took _my_ fries.”

“Maybe I was _going_ to eat it.” Jade’s hand darts out in an attempt to reclaim the stolen bread piece.  
  
“You have more,” Tori points out while she moves the rebaked cube out of Jade’s reach. “Why would you want this one?”

“Don’t test me, Tor–”

The crouton flies upwards into the air and drops neatly into Tori’s mouth. “Too late.”

A sigh is released and Jade shakes her head, looking away from Tori and to her own food. Hm, she actually should eat some of it. Her hand grabs her soda, bringing it to her lips so she can sip the carbonated beverage. Maybe she’ll just buy something after school instead. Yeah, that sounds good.

There’s a poking sensation at her shoulder. She turns to Tori, eyebrow raised, expression inquisitive. Tori nudges her own plate towards her as an offering, and Jade allows a smile in return, reaching once again for the fries, with permission this time.

Half an hour and many fries later, Jade sits among her friends and classmates in Sikowitz’s classroom. It does not currently contain Sikowitz.

“Do you guys wanna go to Disneyland on Thursday? It’s a teacher only day, and a day off for everyone on Friday.”

Jade shrugs and nods absentmindedly in response to Cat’s question, primarily focused on using their acting teacher’s absence as time to work on her history of filmmaking question sheets.

“Everyone has a pass or is able to get a ticket?”

A round of affirmatives is rattled off. The group moves on to planning, discussing who can drive and what rides they want to go on, while Jade fills in the blanks and shades in the bubbles on her paper. She frowns when the lead of her mechanical pencil breaks off and rapidly clicks the top to provide more. Nothing comes out. More clicking. Aaaand…nope. Of course it’s empty. She’s only a few questions away from being done, too.

“Need some lead?” Tori, slightly slouching in the seat next to Jade, leans towards her.

Somewhat surprised, Jade nods. “Thanks, Vega,” she says when Tori hands her a small container with slim graphite sticks.

A few minutes later, Jade finishes her packet and slides it back into her folder.

“So, Disneyland,” Tori starts. “I thought the big, bad Jade West would despise it.” Teasing colors her tone as she arches an amused eyebrow at Jade.

“I don’t love it,” she admits. “All the people and the lines and the kids. Ugh. I don’t see the point.”

“Oh, don’t act like you hate kids. You and Carla were pretty friendly on Saturday.” Jade fights a blush at the mention of the day that brings Carla’s words and her feelings to the forefront of her mind. “But are you going with us?”

Jade pauses a moment, as if she even has to think about it. All her friends are going, she isn’t doing anything that day, Thursday isn’t usually a busy day at the park, and the girl she likes wants her to go. Of course she’s going. “I guess,” is what she says instead, because exclaiming _‘Yes!’_ is absolutely not her brand.

“Soooo, you don’t care that we’re all riding in André’s grandma’s minivan?”

Shit, she hadn’t heard that part of the conversation. Being stuck in a car with an excitable and energetic Cat and a weird and easily skittish Robbie isn’t ideal, but she doesn’t want to drive almost an hour on the road alone and use up her own gas. Especially not in the daylight when she has an alternate option. “I suppose it doesn’t matter if I care, does it?”  
  
“Not really,” Tori grins at her.

“Hellooo everyone!” Sikowitz comes bursting into his classroom, striding briskly down the center aisle and up onto the mini stage. “I apologize for my tardiness. Please do not ask me why I’m late.”  
  
“Why’re you late?” is Jade’s immediate response, because her teacher told her not to, and also because she wants to see if Sikowitz will crack. 

“Oh, well, if you insist.” And with that, Sikowitz launches into his tangent of the day. Despite literally being the one who asked, Jade doesn’t listen to his explanation and instead steals glances at the girl beside her (who is now sitting up straight instead of slouching) every so often. 

Disneyland. Okay, yeah, she can work with that. An outline of a plan starts to take shape in her mind. God, she hopes she doesn’t mess this up.

* * *

Tori’s been doing her best to contain her excitement, but the closer they get to Disney, the more difficult it is. She doesn’t go to the amusement park very often, and even better, the month of November is when the park transitions from the happiest place on earth to the happiest winter wonderland on earth, everything covered top to bottom in Christmas decorations. Sure, it’s not even December yet, but she likes Christmas, okay? Sue her.

In front of her, occupying one of two middle row seats, Cat squeals as they turn into a parking lot on South Harbor Boulevard. Robbie grins brightly at the group’s redhead from the other middle row spot.

From the driver seat, André addresses the car. “Okay kids, here we are!”

“Well, sort of,” Beck, sitting next to André, amends. “We’ll take the shuttle to the entrance, and then we’ll be there.”

“Goody,” Tori hears Jade mutter from beside her.

“You can’t even complain,” she says, shoving Jade lightly in the shoulder. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you failing to mention ‘stupid rides’ or ‘joyous cheer’ in your list of reasons to hate Disneyland.”

“I’ll do what I want, Vega.” Jade pushes her back.

André is circling through the parking lot in search of a good spot. When Beck points one out, Tori goes to unbuckle her seat belt, and since the car is slowing to a stop, her hand grips Cat’s headrest and she prematurely starts pulling herself up from the very back row of seats into a standing position. It’s then that the car abruptly lurches to a halt. Tori barely has the time to think _‘Oh shit’_ before she feels her momentum, built from carelessly flinging up her weight and having yet to completely stopped her movement, begin to toss her forward into the middle aisle and _oh for the love of god_ , she might just be lucky enough to have her face smash _right_ into the middle console between the two front seats because that just _would_ happen to her, wouldn’t it?

Except _none_ of that happens thanks to the arms wrapping around her waist, tugging her back and saving her from impending doom. “Sorry,” Tori immediately apologizes, glancing up and– _oh_. She’s really close to Jade. Oh chiz. She’s like, half sitting on her, and her face is inches from Jade’s. And Jade’s lips are _right there_. Is Tori staring? She’s definitely staring. She should probably stop, huh? 

“Careful there, Tori.” The words are quite consistent with the playwright’s usual behavior, but Tori’s almost one hundred percent sure there’s a waver in her gruff voice and a pink tinge to her pale skin. “There’s a reason they say ‘wait until the ride comes to a full and complete stop,’ you know.”

“Ha ha, yeah I….”

“Sorry guys!” André’s voice unknowingly intrudes upon their moment, apparently unnoticed by everyone in the car. “This car tried to turn into the same spot.”

Tori watches over Jade’s shoulder and through the window as the car her friend must’ve been talking about drives past them. Brown eyes focus back on Jade, and Tori realizes she’s still kind of _sitting on her_. She makes to move off, stumbling out another apology.

“It’s cool,” Jade assures, and her smirk only serves to throw Tori even more off kilter. Is it just Tori, or does Jade’s hand linger on her back longer than necessary?

The minivan’s doors are pulled open and the occupants pile out onto the pavement. “Are you good to stand up, or am I going to have to save you from smashing your face in again?”

“I think I’m good,” Tori chuckles.

“Darn, I was looking forward to it.”  
  
Tori just freezes, mouth moving but producing no sounds, unable to conjure a worthy response.

“C’mon guys!” It’s Cat who pops their bubble this time, sticking her head back into the car.

Deciding to leave _whatever_ is happening between her and Jade alone for now, Tori steps out of the car, followed by Jade, and off to the shuttle everyone goes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> psa: i use the old names for some of the rides i mention, so here’s a quick “key,” i guess you could call it, just in case. the rides i mention that haven't had a name/branding change aren’t mentioned in the key.
> 
> **What the ride is called in this work ⟶ What the ride is named as of 2020**  
>  _Space Mountain ⟶ Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain_  
>  _Star Tours ⟶ Star Tours – The Adventures Continue (yeah, this one doesn’t really matter much)_

“Where to first, gang?”  
  
“Space Mountain, obviously.”

* * *

“Woah, that was fun.”  
  
“Star Tours is always fun.”

“Matterhorn next?”  
  
“I love that ride!”

* * *

“Now let’s ride Snow White!”

“Cat–”  
  
“Please?”

“…fine.”

* * *

“Can we go on Peter Pan now?”

“Sure, Little Red.”  
  
“And then Alice in Wonderland?”

“I don’t kn–”

“You know, I think that sounds great.”

“See? Tori agrees with me. And André said yes.”

* * *

“Oh c’mon–”  
  
“Please no–”

“No way–”  
  
“Oh _hell_ no–”

“I’d rather not–”  
  
“Na-ah-ah!” Jade grins sadistically, interrupting her friends’ overlapping exclamations of disapproval. “You made me go on three happy kiddy rides. _In a row_. Now you all have to go on this.” She grandly gestures to the large arch behind her, donning the words “it’s a small world!” in equally large letters.

“Please, Jade. I will literally do _anything_ else.”

 _Now, Tori, that’s a loaded promise–_ No. Nope. She is not thinking about Tori like that while all her friends’ attention is on her. “No can do. Let’s go.”

The line is delightfully – or not so delightfully, if you’re anyone besides Jade – short, much like the other lines they’ve waited through today. (If you can even call walking through a mostly empty queue and standing idle for only ten minutes ‘waiting.’) The writer thrills at the opportunity to make her friends mildly uncomfortable while also getting to see what the big deal about this ride is, because she can’t remember for the life of her if she’s ever been on it before.

This particular attraction relies on boats and water to propel the riders onward. The first three rows go to the two groups ahead of them, leaving the last three for Jade and her friends to fill in the same configuration as in the car: Beck with André, Cat with Robbie, and Jade with Tori in the very back.

“I hate this,” Tori mutters as they settle into their seats.

“Aw, poor baby,” Jade mockingly coos. “You can hold my hand if you get scared.”

* * *

Tori knows Jade’s joking, but honestly, she might need her to make good on that promise. “I’m holding you to that, West.” As the watercraft crawls forward, and the infamous “It’s a Small World” song begins to gain volume, just audible below the disembodied voice that tells them to keep their “hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the boat, and please, watch your children” (which makes Tori glance wearily at the kid a few rows ahead with his arm already reaching towards the water).

In Tori’s opinion, she keeps it together fairly well for the first few minutes of the ride. There are things she can focus on besides the ever increasing eeriness of the sound of singing children, like _wow those butterflies are nice_ , or _that’s a cool looking clock thing_ , and _the boat in front of us is number 17_ , even _wow this seat is some mighty fine plastic_. But Tori can only ignore dolls with intrusive eyes that she _swears_ are following her for so long, and soon enough, her leg is bouncing, body tense and on edge. She wonders if taking Jade’s hand would be a bad idea.

A few more minutes of this, and Tori is ready for it all to end. She’s quickly exhausted her latest distraction: trying to name the instruments used in the song by ear (glockenspiel, something that sounds like a harp, trumpets, flute, and then a few sufferingly long moments later, maybe castanets and bagpipes?). The knowledge that the ride is supposed to be a tour through the world of sorts is retained somewhere in the back of her mind, and she vaguely recognizes some components of the cultures it’s trying to portray along with movie scenes and characters interspersed throughout. Still, nothing about this ride eases her discomfort. The approach taken to make the dolls and fake animals look kiddy and cutesy was evidently the exact _wrong_ strategy to take, all disproportionate and dead-eyed, as if the people of Halloween Town from _Nightmare Before Christmas_ were commissioned as the design team. A rough trumpet sound is grating on her ears, and when a maniacal cackle that reminds Tori of a screeching monkey toy Trina used to have breaks through the constant music, all restraint Tori has flies out the window and her hand bolts out to grab Jade’s.

Tori can feel the tease coming, but the gleeful look in Jade’s eyes quickly melts into concern. “You okay?”

Tori purses her lips and nods. “Yeah, peachy.” She actually is a little better. The feeling of Jade’s hand in her own is grounding and it provides a very effective distraction from the horrific animatronics. While this technically isn’t the first time she’s held Jade’s hand, the context is definitely very different. Forced to act as the loving couple Walter and Nancy Swain onstage is very different than grabbing Jade’s hand seeking comfort out of her own volition.

“No, seriously, Tori.”

Brown eyebrows furrow, not expecting the pale teen to take this so seriously, to be so genuinely concerned for her well-being. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just wish I could hit that zebra thing back there with a baseball bat,” she jokes as their water vessel continues along its predetermined path, the freaky laughter fading into the distance.

“I’ll help you if I get to keep the head afterwards,” Jade smirks, her joke and her expression effectively distracting Tori from the sinister hippo with glowing eyes and mouth to their right.

They pass under an arch, entering a section where most things are colored in varying shades of brown, yellow, orange, and pink. Tori registers that the song’s language has changed, and focusing on seeing if she can keep up with the Spanish lyrics is the only thing keeping her sane. The segments after that – a short Little Mermaid part, a section where the music reminds Tori of a luau, a desert cowboy region – are all fine and dandy, given she keeps her eyes on the seat or the stripes of Robbie’s shirt in front of her most of the time.

And that most of her attention is on Jade’s hand, skin cool and comforting against her own. But, you know. That’s totally not, like, the only thing on her mind or anything.

She thinks she’s brave enough to look up again, so she takes a quick glance. All she really caught sight of was large flowers pinned to white walls, which isn’t so bad. Brown eyes roam sparkly white walls and pink and gold flowers, pointedly ignoring the dolls playing fake instruments because she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to handle seeing a doll again in her life after this.

The boat rounds a corner and she’s pretty sure she’s got the hang of it by– _oh chiz what is that?!_

Tori barely represses a yelp and instinctually springs to her right, unoccupied hand coming up to clutch the nearest thing: a leather clad arm. “Okay, you cannot tell me that isn’t scary!” Tori whisper-screams, panting heavily.

Jade peers at her curiously, taking in her hand placement and her rigid frame. “What, the dolls? I know them being dressed in all white makes them look like angels, Tori, but I don’t think you have to worry about being sent to hell–”  
  
“ _No_ , that is _not_ what I was talking about. I’m talking about that!” She points her finger above and ahead of them. There hangs a thin-lipped smile and a triangle nose, hollow eyes lit up menacingly, surrounded by what could be eyelashes, gazing down upon them like a cruel and all powerful god.

“It’s a sun. With a face.”

“A scary sun!” Okay, maybe calling it a cruel and all powerful god was a bit much, but still! That sun prop could have definitely been designed to be easier on the eyes.

“We really need to work on what you consider scary.” Jade starts to shift her arm, which Tori didn’t realize she was still holding. She immediately lets go, stumbling out an, “Oh, heh, sorry,” (which is her second apology to Jade today) when Jade simply raises her arm, settling it behind them on the backrest of the bench they’re sitting on.

Tori blinks. She opens to mouth to question Jade but the writer's attention is already elsewhere, nonchalantly observing the animatronics playing percussion instruments to their right. Slowly, as if to not knock Jade out of whatever nice and tactile mood she’s in, Tori settles back and slightly into Jade’s side.

Okay. Yeah. Cool. This is fine. Tori is completely fine. Really, _really_ fine – as in giddy all over, and every area at which she and Jade touch feels electrified to the point where she forgets about the stupid scary sun and creepy dolls. Is this just a friend thing? Jade doesn’t do this with just anybody, but in Tori’s experience, she’s pretty touchy with Cat during sleepovers or when the three of them hang out alone.

Soon, a “Farewell” sign comes into view and Tori’s torn between feeling relieved that they’re finally escaping this hell hole, or feeling disappointed that Jade will have to take her arm away soon.

* * *

Jade does indeed have to pull her arm away to get out of the boat, but if she misses having Tori’s warmth against her side, she’s not telling anyone.

By the time they walk through Mickey’s Toontown (where Jade gives in yet again to Cat’s requests, backed this time by Tori and Robbie, to take pictures with Winnie the Pooh characters), ride the railroad to New Orleans Square (where they ride Haunted Mansion – which Tori apparently _isn’t_ scared of, even though she previously deemed a random sun prop scary – and Pirates of the Carribean), Jade is definitely ready to sit down, fill her stomach, and let the air dry her clothes, slightly damp courtesy of the drops in the water ride that is Pirates of the Carribean. The nearest thing is a place that serves bread bowls, so they order and drag two tables closer together in order to sit as one group. Jade gets herself a coffee along with her vegetable gumbo to keep up with the fast paced energy of the day. She knows she’ll need it.

“We should get those apple fritters,” André comments once everyone has scarfed down their meal.

“Totally.”

“Mhm.”  
  
“For sure.”

So the New Orleans style choux fritters are ordered. The fried balls of dough are covered in cinnamon sugar and served with chunky applesauce to dip in and Jade cannot get enough of the absolutely heavenly scent. Everyone plucks a treat from one of two paper bags and immediately slathers it with the applesauce.

“Mmh,” André makes a noise of approval around the food in his mouth. “Amazing.”

Jade agrees. The fritters are warm and fit in with the Christmas vibe that surrounds them, and the sugar mixes with the sauce and melts sweetly on her tongue. On the other side of the table, somewhat across from Jade, Tori takes her first bite. Jade smirks to herself when Tori's widening eyes display her obvious delight, but the taller girl's expression is quickly knocked off when Tori honest to god _moans_. The sound makes Jade swallow hard and glare at the table, hoping her cheeks won’t flush too noticeably, willing her mind not to replay the noise over again, ignoring the small flame sparked in her gut. God, that was barely anything, and she already had such a reaction. Tori is going to kill her at this rate, and Jade hasn’t even gotten to enact her plan yet.

* * *

Tori’s debating whether or not to comment on Jade’s pink cheeks when her phone starts to ring. The device is pulled from her pocket and she glances at the contact name, quickly sliding her thumb across the screen to accept the call. “Hey tío, how–”  
  
“Heya Tori! It’s me, Carla. I’m using papá’s phone.”

“Oh, hey Carla!” Tori leans back in her seat carelessly, balancing on the back two chair legs, sweet fritter in hand as her friends converse around her. “What’s up?”  
  
“Nothin’ much. I know you’re out right now, but I just have a quick question. I asked tío David, but he said he wasn’t sure.”

“Of course, Cookie. I’m not really busy at the moment anyway.” She let her eyes roam around the table, locking with Jade’s for a moment. They share a smile.

“Okay, well, you know how you said Jade was pretty pretty?”

“Um…yeah,” the teen mumbles cautiously, averting her gaze from Jade’s eyes before taking another bite of the sweet treat. She presses down on the bottom volume button as she chews, lest someone hear Carla say something that could very much incriminate Tori.

“Are you guys girlfriends yet?”

She nearly chokes on the piece of dough in her mouth, nearly tipping backward, barely hanging on to her precarious balance. A hand raises once she lands harshly on all four legs of her chair, covering her mouth with a fist and coughing to dislodge the fritter from the uncomfortable position it was in. She waits a moment before swallowing safely. “Are we _what_ now?” The concerned looks from her friends are waved off and dismissed by mouthing _‘I’m fine.’_

“Girlfriends! You know, like when you date–”  
  
“I know it means,” Tori hisses before realizing that maybe she shouldn’t use that tone with her younger cousin. “Sorry, just, why would you think that?”

“‘Cause you guys like each other, duh.”  
  
“I don’t– She doesn’t–” Tori stops herself and sighs. “How do you know?”

“It’s obvious,” Carla says gleefully. Tori can picture the cheeky grin on her cousin’s face. The young girl starts humming a smooth melody, and Tori’s cheeks immediately flame, recognizing the song as the same one Carla had been humming on Saturday. She doesn’t remember the song title, but she’s watched _Rio_ with Carla (per the little girl’s request) enough times to know it’s a love song that the yellow bird sings to the two main characters, trying to convince them to admit their feelings to one another.

Tori starts to sputter in indignation, but Carla stops humming and says, “Oh, I need to go now. Buh-bye, Tori!” The line goes dead before Tori can get a word out.

“All good over there?” André questions from beside her.  
  
“Yeah, just…yeah.” She shakes her head in bewilderment as she sets her phone down on the table. Are she and Jade _girlfriends_ ? Chiz, is she really that obvious? And– hey, wait a minute! Her _dad_ said he _wasn’t sure_?! As in, he thinks she and Jade _might actually_ be dating? Oh jeez, her mom probably thinks the same thing, then. She might need to clarify some things to her parents when she gets home.

“So the little one was wondering about you and Jade, hm?” André inquires, a teasing lilt detectable in his tone. “Sounds like her and I have the same question.”

“You heard that?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Ugh,” Tori groans, glancing around to make sure no one is listening in on their hushed conversation. “I already told you! Yes, I like her, but we’re not anything!” she whispers sharply.

“You could be, by the end of today,” he points out. “If you finally make a move.”

Just because he’s right doesn’t mean Tori’s going to do anything.

Except, you know, she probably should. And she might. But she probably won’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not me repeatedly rewatching an “it’s a small world” ride pov youtube video to write this chapter 🥴


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this whole thing is just fluff. 100%. all of the chapters in this fic are sweet and cute. do i apologize for it? no.
> 
> also some old names are used again in this chapter. rides/attractions that still have the same name aren’t included in the key below.
> 
> **The ride/themed land/performance name used ⟶ Current name (as of December 2020)**   
>  _The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (mostly known as just “Tower of Terror”) ⟶ Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout  
>  Soarin’ Over California ⟶ Soarin’/Soarin’ Around the World  
> Mickey’s Fun Wheel ⟶ Pixar’s Pal-A-Round  
> California Screamin’ ⟶ Incredicoaster  
> Paradise Pier ⟶ Pixar Pier & Paradise Gardens Park  
> World of Color: Winter Dreams ⟶ This particular version of World of Color doesn’t exist anymore_

The Hollywood Arts students skip past Frontierland and Critter Country, deeming the rides there not compelling enough to deviate from their path across the park to California Adventure, where they take Buena Vista Street straight to Hollywood Land.

“You’re fine going on this and Haunted Mansion, but not It’s a Small World?” Jade glances at Tori in the metal seat beside her after securing her own seat belt.

The shorter girl shrugs, looking around at the compartment they reside in, all worn, dull metal, meant to look like a 1930s maintenance elevator. “Well, first of all, Haunted Mansion isn’t even supposed to be that scary. And this…it’s different, I guess.”

Jade pauses for a moment, considering the differences between It’s a Small World and the ride they are currently getting situated in: Tower of Terror. She nods in understanding. “Yeah, okay. I see that.” Sometimes, it’s the subtle but lingering unease that gets to you instead of the jarringly obvious, farfetched things like jumpscares and otherworldly beings.

And even _Robbie_ is going on this ride, so it isn’t like it’s absolutely horrible. Then again, Robbie’s been growing increasingly braver each day, so maybe he isn’t the best person to base this on. (And Cat loves going on thrill rides, which Jade knows _totally_ doesn’t influence Robbie’s decision in any way, shape, or form.)

Soon, the worker dressed as a bellhop checks everyone’s belts and bids them adieu, and with that, they start their journey into “the twilight zone.” The doors shut, the elevator reverses, and the whole compartment’s reflection is visible in an old timey, ornate mirror in an equally aged and fancy room across from them. Thunder rumbles and shakes the room and lightning strikes the mirror, their reflections fading into mere apparitions and then nothing, only the elevator seats observable in their reflection. Jade feels suspense and anticipation settle in her belly – the good kind. The excited kind. The kind she feels before she steps on stage, or just before the curtains to her self-written play open, or whenever Tori directs _that_ look at her. The kind she feels when Tori pushes back and steps up to whatever challenge Jade aims her way, the kind she felt for a long time and had always mislabeled as rage or jealousy until recently.

Jade turns her head to look at said girl, who has a big, eager smile gracing her lips, as the elevator raises and dings when they reach the next floor. Once the ghostly figures in the hallway in front of them fade, followed by everything except the elevator doors disappearing into darkness and the narrator’s ominous voice trailing off, Tori turns and meets her gaze.

“You ready for this, West?”

“Definitely, Vega.”

Jade feels herself rise from her seat very slightly as the ride drops abruptly, the strap of the seat belt pushing against her thighs and her body hanging in free fall for a few exhilarating seconds before the elevator is rising and repeating it’s sequence. After the second drop, the chamber rises again, this time continuing upward instead of immediately falling.

“C’mon.” Tori pokes Jade’s thigh, eyes alive with thrill detectable even in the low lighting. “Put your hands up. You’re not allowed to hold onto the handles.”

“I’m _‘not allowed’_?” Jade says, arcing a challenging eyebrow, though her mirth is obvious.

“Yep. Not allowed. Now let go.” Tori apparently has no reservations reaching for Jade’s hand this time, using her nimble fingers to pry Jade’s from the handle between them.

“Hm. No.” Pale hands curl around the grips with more force, purely just to give Tori a hard time. Jade stands by her previous musings: messing with Tori is always fun.

“Jaaade,” Tori whines, glancing frantically upward. There’s not really a steadfast way to tell, but Jade thinks they might be nearing the top. “Please?”

Fuck. Not the eyes, goddamnit. Jade can never resist the puppy eyes. Her fingers loosen their grip a fraction. 

The elevator stops it’s ascent as doors in front of them open and light leaks into the elevator. Before them lies a near bird’s eye view of the amusement park, afternoon light spilling over the structures, sun already low in the sky since the season of fall brings early ass sunsets that always mess with Jade’s internal clock.

Jade feels her fingers pried from the cool handle. Warm fingers immediately slip between hers, intertwining. Tori arms are raised up in preparation, effectively raising Jade’s as well through their connected hands. Turning her head slightly, Jade smirks over at Tori, and the writer only has enough time to register the trademark grin of victory and the same unnameable _something_ in Tori’s eyes that she saw last Saturday before there’s a quick flash, and then the elevator is rattling and plummeting towards the ground. Tori is whooping beside her, still gripping her hand as her hair flies all over the place.

Jade can’t stop the grin that spreads across her face as the ride dips and rises repeatedly. She doesn’t let go of Tori’s hand, and Tori doesn’t let go of hers.

* * *

The group of Hollywood Arts students are still laughing in exhilaration when they stumble out of the elevator and into the Tower of Terror gift shop. Each person immediately scatters around the room, Tori dragging Jade by the hand to one of the sections on the wall housing t-shirts and other merchandise. One of the replica bellhop hats is grabbed from the stack and the singer sets it atop her head, turning to Jade and deepening her voice, not unlike the way she did when she played narcoleptic astronaut Walter Swain. She calls upon the transatlantic accent the men had in those old films her grandma swears are better than today’s movies, purposely avoiding the way the women talked in those times because she is _not_ about to prove Jade’s Sweet Sally Peaches voice valid. “Well how’d you enjoy your trip into the twilight zone, little lady?”

“I found it quite exhilarating, sir!” Jade plays along with a hand placed over her heart and a voice replicating the one she uses to mock Tori, as expected.

“Well that’s just–” Tori swings over to a different rack and dings one of the purchasable desktop service bells sitting there, “–swell!”

Jade breaks character, a pale hand coming up to cover her face. Tori feels a little disappointed she doesn’t get to see the hidden smile, but hearing Jade’s chuckle mostly makes up for it. “You’re such a dork, oh my god.” The pale teen shakes her head, halfway between exasperated and amused, as if she can’t believe this is the idiot she’s grown to enjoy the company of.

“Well one of us has to be.” Tori feels the grin spreading her lips and does absolutely nothing to stop it.

The taller girl strides closer to her, a hand coming up to pluck the hat from Tori’s head and place it back down in it’s spot. “I suppose you’re right.”

Tori’s a little confused when Jade’s other hand raises, but then the hand is in her hair, smoothing down and fixing the wild mane it had been turned into from the multiple drops in the ride. Brown eyes slowly close as tan cheeks warm because damn her if this isn’t nice and intimate and _maybe_ Tori has a weakness for pretty girls running their hands through her hair. _Maybe_.

“You’re welcome.” The words sound like they should be said pointedly and accusingly, but Jade’s tone, softer and warmer murmur than Tori is used to, nullifies any negative connotation the sentence might've had.

The shorter girl knows her chance of fighting off her blush is long gone by now, she can feel the heat settling in her cheeks, but still, Tori just smiles back shyly. “Thanks.”

“Hey guys, our picture is up!”

Both girls turn over to look at Robbie standing over by a different side of the room, multiple screens built into the wall in front of him. Tori grabs Jade’s wrist – a habit that’s permanently ingrained into her by now – and guides them over to where everyone else has gathered, the oddly comfortable atmosphere they had previously created still lingering between the two of them.

Just when Tori thought her blush was going down, it comes back just as strong when she sees the screen everyone has gathered around. Her and Jade sit on the far right in the front row, Cat in the aisle seat and Tori in the middle between her and Jade, their other three friends (plus a random stranger) across the aisle on the left. Jade’s head is turned left towards Tori, both her smirk and Tori’s grin visible, possibly only to the two of them since they were looking at each other when it happened. On the contrary, their joined and raised hands are _very_ visible to anyone who has eyes.

A heavy hand is laid on Tori’s shoulder and André’s muttering voice is filling her ear. “I swear, Tori, if you and Jade aren’t together by the end of today, I just might have to pull a Jade and threaten to hit you with a bus.”

“I know, I know.” The photo on screen switches, displaying another elevator of different people. “Hey, did you snap a pic of our photo?” It’s true you’re not supposed to take pictures of the on-ride photos without buying them, but does anyone really listen to that rule?

“Mhm.”  
  
“Can you send it to me?”  
  
André laughs knowingly. “Of course, chica.”

Even as they move around to other sections of the park, marveling at the artificial views while riding Soarin’ Over California and pouting when Jade, Beck, and Cat's car beats Robbie, André, and her's on the Radiator Springs Racers ride, the feeling of Jade’s hand in hers lingers on her mind.

* * *

As they travel away from Cars Land and towards another region of the theme park, Jade wonders how the fuck she managed to fall for someone as dorky and goofy and sunny as Tori. Case in point: that whole bellhop spiel Tori pulled after Tower of Terror. Like, who does that?

Well, Tori, obviously, because she just did. But who saw that and thought “Yes, that is cute and adorable and endearing, I want that”?

Jade, a-fucking-parrently. The girl who literally has _‘MAKE IT SHINE’_ plastered on her locker surrounded by light-up stars is the one she’s planning on asking out, hopefully by the end of the day. It’s mind boggling.

The playwright’s mental reflection and recount of the day so far is broken by loud dialogue coming through the park’s speakers, a pair of gates opening in the distance. By the sound of it, some guy is talking about it being “time for the fiesta!” with– is that the voice of Donald Duck?

The group of friends continues to weave through the fairly thin crowds along the sides of the walkways in the Paradise Pier section of California Adventure, where people have gathered to make way for the sizable float now in view. It does in fact carry a human-sized Donald Duck wearing a sombrero, along with two other similarly adorned bird characters that Jade thinks she might recognize from reruns of older animated shows on Disney channel.

Jade doesn’t pay the parade performance – which is called ¡Viva Navidad! according to the...rooster?...character dressed in a pink suit – any excessive amount of attention, but she does take in her surroundings. The mariachi musicians and dancers are impressive, and the way they, along with the three caballeros atop the float and the large rolling puppet version of the many dancing women, bring the whole festive celebration to life is worthy of admiration.

From behind her, she hears a familiar voice quietly singing along to the song currently being performed: “Wonderful Christmastime” sung in a mix of English and Spanish. Jade turns her head to look at Tori. “This setting a familiar Christmas sight to you?” She gestures to the street party playing out before them.

The singing is halted, and Tori's shoulders rise and fall as she moves to Jade’s side and matches her stride. “Not really. My family isn’t too immersed in Latinx culture, and I don’t really know what Christmas is like in Puerto Rico. My dad’s family immigrated here when he was only four, and it’s kinda why I only speak Spanish around them, even if it’s only a little.” Brown eyes wander over the performers, men dancing with women, instrumentalists creating jovial music, the float covered in Christmas decor. “He probably just doesn’t want to force it on Trina and I, but it does look fun.”

Jade thinks similarly. The sway and spin of the dancers paired with the mood of the music generates a very captivating sight. 

With her friends distracted by the performance – samba drummers and dancers come out from behind the float – and no attention directly on them, Jade feels this is a sufficient time to proceed with the first step in asking Tori what she's wanted to for some time now. “Hey, Tori?”

“Yeah?”

Unlike that time in Tori’s room a week and a half ago (had it really only been that short of a time? To Jade, it felt like so much longer), Jade doesn’t have to prompt for Tori’s attention more than once. Dark eyes immediately find frosty blue ones, features politely inquisitive. “Want to go on the ferris wheel before it closes for the water-light show?”

Tori’s curious gaze sends anxious waves to Jade’s belly. The original plan is for all of them to go catch a good spot on the pier for World of Color, and Jade’s sure Tori knows she’s asking her and only her to diverge from it. Which is kind of the point. Their friends are great, but getting Tori alone for a brief excursion is definitely what Jade would prefer. Cat would probably excitedly squeal and scream her ear off and deafen the rest of the amusement park goers if Jade tried to make her move in front of everyone.

Tori’s eyes flicking down from Jade’s _(is she looking at my lips?)_ and then back up does nothing to quell the internally fretting state of the writer’s mind. If Tori says no, Jade will look like a fool, a girl not even given a single chance, and she’d probably die of embarrassment right there.

Well, no, she wouldn’t. She’d act like it was nothing and shrug it off and act aloof the rest of the night, only to go home and scream into her pillow about it. Yeah, that’s more like it. Jade likes to think she knows herself quite well.

“I’d love to, Jade.”

Of course, that was the answer Jade had been hoping for, but it was never guaranteed that it was the answer she would get. Rolls of relief wash over her, until she remembers that the hard part is still up ahead. She’s got Tori on board, but now she has to actually confess her feelings. But, admittedly, there is a boost in her confidence now that her plan is half done. Now she just has to make sure she doesn't sound like some silly little heart-eyed girl lovestruck by her crush.

(Which she’s _not_ , in case you were thinking it.)

* * *

After departing with their friends (who all had knowing reactions; André gave Tori a thumbs up, Cat giggled, Robbie made an OK sign with his fingers, and she thinks she heard Beck mutter something like “Go get her, tiger”), Tori and Jade make their way to Mickey’s Fun Wheel, placing themselves in line for one of the non-swinging gondolas. Tori rocks between the balls and heels of her feet, heart pumping wildly in her chest. Jade doesn’t just casually ask someone to go on a ride with her alone, so this has to mean something, right? But maybe that “something” is just her wanting to get away from all the people, a brief reprieve to recuperate energy. Which, if that is the case, Tori is honored to be a part of that. But a little more than that would be…you know, appreciated.

André’s words from earlier today seep into her mind. He’s right, she has to make a move _sometime_ , she can’t wait forever. Yeah. She’ll make a move today. On this ride. Right now.

Maybe.

A gentle touch on her wrist draws her out of her thoughts. “C’mon dork, the line moved up. We’re next.”

“Right,” Tori mumbles, stepping up and next to Jade, the brief pressure still lingering on her skin.

“Are you okay?”

Tori’s eyebrows screw up in confusion, lost as to what prompted the question. “Yeah, why?”

“You’re like,” Jade motions to her face, “kind of blushing, I guess. And fidgety.”

The calling out of her pink cheeks only serves to make them flush hotter. “Oh, um, I’m fine. Just getting a little chilly,” she chuckles, hoping against hope that her quick thinking and acting skills (which are half assed at best right now) are enough to fool Jade.

They aren’t, of course they aren’t, but Jade only raises an eyebrow and doesn’t question her beyond that expression of skepticism, thankfully. And it isn’t really a lie, what Tori said. It _is_ getting colder with the sun giving up its claim on the sky, the evening turning over into night.

The next gondola arriving saves Tori from having to explain herself further, and she and Jade enter after the previous group leaves.

It is thought that maybe the universe will grant her _some_ relief for once, but then Jade sits right next to her on the same bench instead of the one across from her, and while Tori doesn’t hate their shoulders touching and their knees brushing, it doesn’t help calm her racing heart or dry her clammy palms, either.

A silence lingers between them as the ferris wheel turns, raising them higher off the ground and stopping to unload the next gondola. While Jade seems quite comfortable in the quiet (whether the nonchalance is fabricated or not, Tori can't tell for certain), it only serves as more time for Tori to stew on the possibilities. Apparently, the thoughts racing around in her head have yet to tire of running in circles.

As they sit and let the ferris wheel rotate, Jade makes snide remarks at the people below them and Tori laughs along, occasionally pointing out an unfortunate soul who’s stumbled over themselves right under the glow of an overhead light. When they start approaching the highest point, though, their conversation dies out in favor of admiring the view.

The sun has almost disappeared completely, dwindled into a nearly imperceptible glow on the horizon line, and the lights of all the shops and signs and rides illuminate the ground and water so far below them. Even the fake mountain rocks of Cars Land and the tall Tower of Terror are visible from all the way up here, almost one hundred and fifty feet off the ground. The whoops of pleasure and excitement float up to them, both from the swinging gondolas below them and California Screamin’ beside them.

Beyond the park boundaries and into the city, the outline of lofty edifices impose upon the smaller buildings. The view from Tori’s house is pretty good, but this, this is a whole other level.

Still, compared to Jade, pale features relaxed into the carefree expression that is rarely allowed to form, illuminated just barely by the lights on the spokes and rims of the ferris wheel, in addition to enchanting personality and intricate mind, the view has nothing on her.

“So,” Jade starts, and Tori feels her chest tighten when a hand rests on her knee, just _knowing_ she’s not going to recover from this intense blush anytime soon. Today _must_ be a record for how long her cheeks have spent unusually warm. “A little birdy told me something interesting on Saturday.”

Tori frowns slightly, trying to place what Jade might be referencing.

“The birdy was about, oh, I don’t know,” she holds out a leather-clad arm straight ahead of her, wavering slightly when the ride powers up and turns again, raising them higher into the air, “yay high, brown hair and eyes. Looked a bit like you, actually.”  
  
Realization dawns across Tori’s features. Okay, Jade’s talking about Carla. That’s a safe topic. Tori can talk about that.

“And she had a theory of sorts. She told me about something you said that day.”  
  
What? What did she even say that– Oh. Oh _shit_. Nevermind, Tori takes it back, this is _not_ a safe topic. Abort abort _abort_. Her jaw clenches and her hands are pressing hard into her jeans. Her and Jade are long past the stage where Tori would be immediately wary of Jade trying to get her alone, but it seems some old habits aren’t as long dead as Tori thought because she finds herself bracing for a verbal attack, taunting and insulting her for saying what most people would accept as a compliment.

She swallows hard. “Heh, well, you know kids, they misinterpret things a lot of the time and–”

“Hm, I don’t know,” Jade drawls apprehensively. “She seemed pretty sure of herself to me.”

“Yeah, well…,” Tori trails off. She’s turned her head to look at Jade, only to find the scriptwriter turned towards her as well. With how close they’re sitting, she’s sure if she leaned any closer, she could brush her nose against Jade’s. 

“You wanna know what she said?” Jade murmurs, blue eyes flicking up and down Tori’s face.

The singer just nods, not trusting her vocal cords to work properly.

“She thought that maybe you _liked_ me.” Full lips pull into a smirk, Tori fully enraptured by Jade’s words the same way she is enraptured by Jade’s singing, her acting, her presence, all of her entirety. “She told me that you think I – and I quote – am ‘ _pretty_ pretty.’”

Tori’s pretty sure she’s stopped breathing by this point, but talking requires breath, so she must have some because the next thing she admits is, “Well, you are.” There is a kaleidoscope of shades bouncing off her pale skin from the multicolored string of lights on the ferris wheel, making her simultaneously look mysterious in a way that’s entirely familiar, and innocently childlike in a way that is distinctly not. “You really, _really_ are.”

The grin that spreads on Jade’s lips reminds Tori of the one she saw over a half a week ago when Jade was sat at her piano and singing, honest and sincere, except it’s not a small, subdued expression anymore, but a wide beam that lights up Jade’s entire face, even prettier than before. Carla is right, she’s just so damn _pretty_.  
  
Tori isn’t sure who surges forward first, but it absolutely does not matter because she’s finally, legitimately _kissing Jade West_. Any shame about coming off too eager, any worry (seemingly unnecessary in light of recent events) that Jade might not like her the same way? Gone. _Thrown_ out the window.

One of Jade’s arms is braced on the back of the seat, the other hand sliding around her neck into her hair, pleasantly cool on her heated skin, and the singer all but melts into her touch. Tori’s hands seem to respond of their own accord, one grabbing her leather jacket near it’s zippered pocket and the other slipping under it to fist Jade’s shirt near her waist, tugging her closer. Even with all this passion, this impatient desire to replace all the time pining with time spent on activity, the way Jade leans more weight into her and sweeps her tongue across her lips is still gentle, reverent, almost. It’s a way of seeking entrance, and Tori is all too ready to offer it. The coffee so often associated with Jade can be tasted on her tongue, the same tongue that has directed a range of dialogue at her over the years, from venomous spitted insults to fond murmurs. 

The ferris wheel jolts into motion, effectively making Tori flinch away from the kiss, which is actually probably a good thing because she definitely wouldn’t have been able to pull herself away otherwise. Unable to contain herself, a giggle of relief bubbles up and is released, even as she hides her face in Jade’s neck and tries to gain control.

“Are you laughing at me, Vega?” Despite those minacious words, Tori knows for a fact Jade is smiling too, feeling every bit as elated as she is right now.

“Oh, no, not at all. It’s just,” she breaks into another round of half suppressed laughs, tightening her arms around Jade as if that will help her rein herself in, because yeah, she can just _do_ that now. “Carla literally _just_ asked me a few hours ago if we were dating.”  
  
“What did you say?” Jade asks, squeezing her arms around Tori in turn.

“Well, I said _no_ , because we _weren’t_.” She raises her head, leaning back just enough to look Jade in the eye. “But I guess I’ll have to revise my answer now.”

“Hm, yeah, you probably should.” The arm encircling Tori’s neck slips down to her shoulders, only to have the other hand tug her closer by the back of her neck yet again.

Determined to make an impression, Tori pushes back against Jade steadily, taking it upon herself to nip at that full bottom lip, reveling in the delightfully surprised noise that rises from Jade's throat. 

“You do realize,” Tori starts once they part from their second kiss, breathless and giddy, looking at the ground below through the grates of the gondola, “that we’ve just now accomplished one of the most cliche couple things ever, right?” Those words are intended to sound deadpan or incredulous, but Tori can’t even fake chastise Jade, not when she has this much energy thrumming through her and the smile on her face is immovable.

“You’re a hopeless romantic, aren’t you? Thought you’d like dramatically kissing at the top of a ferris wheel at nighttime.” Blue eyes trail over the stupid, wonderful girl in front of her, a smile mirroring Tori’s stuck on her lips.

“I never said I didn’t.” Her hands slide from Jade’s sides, reaching for pale hands and interlacing their fingers for the third time today. The singer assumes all the gondolas are properly filled now because the ferris wheel turns continuously, not halting intermittently. Tori can’t help but think it’s a fitting metaphor, the turning of a ferris wheel – Jade rises her higher than she’s ever been before, then grounds her the way she’s always wanted, a steady rock in the chaos that is her life.

God, André would totally have a field day with her thoughts, probably exclaiming something like _‘You got it_ bad _Tori’_ while laughing. Which, okay, maybe she _does_ have it bad, but who cares? She’s not complaining, and Jade doesn’t seem to mind either.

* * *

When they exit the ride and make their way towards the pier hand in hand, their friends whoop and holler with absolutely no regard for the people near them shooting dirty looks. Naturally.

Walking closer, Jade can hear André gloating, saying “What did I tell you?” proudly, to which Tori responds by flicking the mini stuffed Mickey sitting on his shoulder. Robbie is sporting a mini Mickey also, and at her appraising look directed towards the light up ears Cat and Beck are wearing, Beck shrugs, “Cat wanted us to be ‘adequately festive.’”

“Oh!” _Speak of the devil_ , Jade thinks as their tiniest friend rushes up to her and Tori. “I got you guys shirts!” She digs into the plastic bag hung on her arm, pulling out folds of fabric and tossing them forward. Jade would rather let gravity do its work and pull the clothing to the ground, but Tori’s already snatching them from the air and pulling her hand from Jades to unfold them.

“Aw, Cat!” Tori exclaims. She oddly seems genuinely touched. “These are so cute! Thank you.”

Jade takes one single glance and scowls. “I’m not wearing that.” There is no way she is putting on a shirt as cliche as two Mickey gloves pointing at each other, the words ‘She’s mine’ printed on in the signature Disney script.

“What? Please?”

 _Don’t look at the eyes, don’t look at the eyes, you are_ gone _if you look at her_ damn _eyes._

“Please? Only for today? There’s not even that much time left in the day anyway! And it’s dark!”

Jade pointedly ignores looking at Tori’s face, but her friend– her _girlfriend_ makes a good point. And yeah, maybe she’s still riding high on their kiss from a few minutes prior, and maybe Tori’s running a hand down her arm, and _maybe_ that, plus the reminder of their new relationship status, makes her a bit lenient. Whatever. She can’t fail her first act as Tori’s girlfriend, now can she? “ _Fine_ ,” she heaves a heavy sigh, cringing as she holds out her hand. The cloth – ridiculously overpriced without a doubt – is placed into her hand, but before she can grumble more about it, a pacifying kiss is dropped onto her cheek.

“Thank you,” Tori’s murmur fills her ear.

“Whatever.” Damnit. She can’t believe she’s doing this. This girl has too much power over her already.

As she shrugs off her jacket, Beck raises his eyebrows with a smile, drawing his arm back as if cracking a whip and making the corresponding noise.

“Shut up,” Jade hisses. He can laugh all he wants about her being whipped, though. She’s a little too content in her current headspace to be knocked out of it by what could be classified as annoyance at most.

The shirt fit Jade fairly well over her tank top, which she’s glad she’s wearing because she was not about to force on a t-shirt over a t-shirt. Tori, apparently, has no such reservations. “Isn’t that uncomfortable?” Jade asks while she redresses herself in her jacket. Also, now that the thought is in her head, what would Cat have done with these shirts if they _didn't_ get together on the ferris wheel?

“It won’t be in a second.” Tori draws her arms back into the shirt, maneuvering around and generally looking ridiculous until the original t-shirt is pulled out from underneath and over her head. “Ta-da!”

“Riveting,” Jade mumbles, sarcasm dripping from the word. Tori looks like she’s about to retaliate (when doesn’t she?), but the writer curls an arm around her shoulders and places her lips on a tan temple, lingering there for a few long moments. “You owe me for this, you know.”

The upturn of her lips is _so_ easily heard in Tori’s voice when she says, “I wouldn’t expect any less.”

Just then, the sound of a soft piano and a narration fills the air around them, and Cat frantically rushes Beck to turn on his ears so that it lines up with the new World of Color show called “Winter Dreams.” The streams of water bend beautifully, the Mickey ears flash eye-catchingly in unison, and the graceful and majestic quality embedded in the music and visuals alike are nearly breathtaking.

The way the colors of the projections reflect off of Tori’s skin, though, along with her excited grin, is entirely more worth watching in Jade’s opinion. Her opinion is only solidified when Tori’s eyes meet hers and light up in a way that’s not due to any outside light source whatsoever, eliciting a feeling simultaneously suffocating and refreshing in Jade because she can’t believe that look is directed solely at her.

Jade believes she and Tori would’ve made their way together eventually in one way or another, but she’s pretty damn thankful for Carla and her devious little mind.

* * *

“Do you think your parents will still allow me to come over?”

“Oh, I think they’ll be fine with it.” Yeah, her dad, Mr. I’m-not-sure-if-my-daughter-is-dating-rebel-goth-girl-even-though-she-clearly-isn't (except now she _is_ ), wouldn’t mind. Hell, her mom is probably ecstatic. “I think it’s Trina we might have a problem with.”

“I can take her.”

“She takes martial arts, Jade.”

“I have scissors.”

“Maybe refrain from physical harm, yeah?”

“I guess.” There’s silence for a moment as Olaf dances across the rainbow jets of water. “Is ‘ _pretty_ pretty’ really the best you could come up with?”

“I was just repeating the words she used! Not everyone can have the extensive vocabulary of a gifted scriptwriter, you know.”

“She’s five, she has an excuse. You on the other hand….”

Tori’s pretty sure (or _pretty_ pretty sure, eh?) that grabbing the collar of Jade’s new shirt and pulling her down is her new favorite way to render her speechless. And you know what? Screw fancy words or elaborate descriptions, she's never been good at those. She'll call Jade _pretty_ pretty whenever she wants, because damn her if it isn't true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well that’s the end of that! thank you thank you thank you to everyone who made it to the end, i hope you all enjoyed this fluff filled ride.
> 
> also i may or may not have listened to “Oh, Pretty Woman” on repeat while creating this.


End file.
